SAO PAOLO/RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Almost a year
after a deadly dam spill at the Samarco mine, owned by BHP
Billiton and Vale, there is still no date for restarting
operations, complicating attempts to restructure Samarco's debt
and increasing the possibility the miner may be allowed to run
out of money.

Vale and BHP have assured authorities
they will cover the cost of Brazil's worst ever environmental
disaster, sources familiar with their thinking say, stopping
short of saying they will keep Samarco, for whom the closed mine
is the only real revenue stream, afloat.

Samarco's debt is trading at distressed levels. The price on
Samarco's 4.125 percent dollar-denominated bond due in November
2022, for example, has fallen to 37.50 cents
on the dollar to yield 24.17 percent.

Samarco has reached out to creditors to sound out the
possibility of renegotiating debt as it faces $50 million in
interest payments through November, but sources familiar with
the negotiations say they are progressing more slowly than
expected.

Vale, BHP and Samarco declined to comment on negotiations.

The main problem, according to seven sources with knowledge
of different parts of company and creditor strategy, is a lack
of visibility of when the mine may restart.

Originally, Samarco said it expected to resume operations at
reduced capacity this year. Now, it has said this will not
happen without setting a new timeframe. A spokesman said the
timing was in the hands of licensing authorities.

Semad, the environmental licensing authority that needs to
approve a restart, has until June 2017 to decide on Samarco's
bid to resume operations, though a decision could be made
sooner.
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